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of land somewhere. A
thought popped into her head, she put one hand over her mouth, the other over
her heart, and stepped away from the bed. “ Acedor!
If the Wizard ’ s
Council did not know about him, could he- “
    “ No, no! ” Paedris dismissed the
idea with a wave of his hand. “ There
is no trace of the foul magics our enemy uses to confound us. He has not come from Acedor, I ’ m
certain of it. When the boy wakes, I will talk to him, learn where he came
from, and what he knows of magic. Until then, we let him rest. ”
     
    Koren awoke to
the sound of voices, women ’ s
voices. He lay very still, and cracked opened one eye just wide enough to see
where he was. In a bed, a big, soft bed, with his head resting on a real
pillow! Beyond the bed, the room appeared to be large, and through an open
window, he could see flags flying in the breeze, and soldiers standing on top
of a thick stone wall. He must be in a castle, somewhere. Koren had never seen
a real castle, the only one around Crebbs Ford was the small building that was
home to the Baron of Crickdon county. What was he doing in-
    Soldiers. He
remembered being captured by soldiers.
    “ -can ’ t believe everything the
high and mighty tell you, Mathilda, why, I heard the little scamp was living in
the Duke ’ s own
private hunting reserve, he was, poaching deer and scooping up all the fish.
Don ’ t know as
how the Sheriff didn ’ t
find him first, he ’ s
supposed to be patrolling those woods. And you know, Duke Yarron don ’ t take kindly to poachers.
No, he doesn ’ t. ”
    “ I  
heard that poaching be the least of his worries. ” Said another woman ’ s voice. “ Found him with a pack of
bandits, the guards did, and he led them on a merry chase before they captured
him. Likely he was trying to kidnap poor Ariana, so you can talk all you want
about him being a scamp, I say he ’ s
a menace, pure and simple. Wouldn ’ t
turn my back on him, I wouldn ’ t,
no matter how young he is. ”
    Koren could
hear two women, he was laying on his side, with his back to them.
    “ Well, the wizard will have
the truth out of him, sure enough. In here all night with the boy, conjuring up
demons, or whatnot it is wizards do. Gives me the creeps, it does, and the
sooner that wizard is out of here and back to the palace, the happier I ’ ll be. ”
    “ It gives me the creeps
just to be in here, where he was working his foul magic. Finish folding those
sheets, Mathilda, and let ’ s
be rid of here. Fancy letting this boy sleep in here! Should be in the dungeon,
he should. They ’ ll
hang him soon enough. ”
    There were
rustling sounds, and shoes scuffing across a floor, and a door opening and
closing with a solid thunking sound. Koren remained still for a good minute,
until he was certain the women had gone, before he opened both eyes. His head
was spinning. Duke Yarron? He didn ’ t
know that name, so he must not be in his home Winterthur province. Whoever this
Duke Yarron was, he apparently considered Koren to be a poacher. And a bandit.
And a kidnapper.
    Koren raised
his head from the pillow and looked around the room. It was the most fabulous
place he had ever imagined. The ceiling had to be twelve feet high, and the
room was bigger than the entire common room at the Golden Trout Inn in Crebb ’ s Ford. Bigger even than
many barns in his home town. There were pictures in gold-plated frames, large
wall hangings, and an enormous fireplace at the far end of the room, over which
was a crest, a red fox on a field of white. A large, fancy carved desk was up
against the outside wall, Koren could see scuff marks on the stone floor where
the desk had been pushed to make room for the bed he lay in.
    Why was he in
such a place? Were the Duke ’ s
dungeons full? Surely the Duke didn ’ t
treat all poachers, bandits and kidnappers by giving them a soft bed to lay in.
    A chill ran up
Koren ’ s spine.
The women said something about a wizard, working foul magic